Georgia Issues Stop Sale Order for All J303 Tractor Hydraulic Fluid

The Georgia Department of Agriculture, Fuel & Measures Division has issued a Stop Sale Order for Tractor Hydraulic Fluids (THF) products in the market labeled, claimed or implied as meeting the THF “303” specification.

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Georgia Issues Stop Sale Order for All J303 Tractor Hydraulic Fluid

The Georgia Department of Agriculture, Fuel & Measures Division has issued a Stop Sale Order for Tractor Hydraulic Fluids (THF) products in the market labeled, claimed or implied as meeting the THF “303” specification.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture is responsible for insuring that all lubricating oils, greases, and other similar products sold or offered for sale in the state of Georgia are properly labeled.

Pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 10-1-162(b) (3) “No person shall store, sell, expose, or offer for sale any liquid fuels, lubricating oils, greases, or other similar products… [i]n any manner whatsoever which may deceive or have the effect of deceiving the purchaser of such products as to the nature, price, quality, or quantity of products so stored, sold, exposed, or offered for sale”

The Department’s Fuel & Measures division has issued a stop sale order for Tractor Hydraulic Fluids (THF) products labeled, claimed, or implied as meeting the THF “303” specification. The THF 303 specification was discontinued in 1974 and was subsequently replaced with the current JDM-J20C or D specifications. The department has determined that all THF 303 labeled products shall be removed from sale in Georgia within 180 days of the date of this order.

Provided, however, that nothing in this order shall prevent a manufacturer of such products from correcting product labeling and resuming the sale thereof after such products are validated as meeting the current JDM-J20C or D performance specifications. Performance specifications include but are not limited to those set by original equipment manufacturers and standards-setting organizations such as ASTM and/or SAE.

Sinclair Announces Second Price Increase in Q1 2018

Sinclair Lubricants will implement a second price increase of up to 5% on finished lubricant products effective March 1st, 2018. This increase will be combined with the price increase announced January 17, 2018. In certain instances, the amount of the price change may fall outside of these parameters. This adjustments is attributed to the increasing costs of raw materials in the production of its products.

A Second Round of Price Increases?

Based on what JobbersWorld is hearing today, a number of blenders say they have been advised that a second round of base oil price increases are coming as early as tomorrow. With that, Sinclair may not be the only one announcing a second finished lubricant price increase in the first quarter of 2018.

Round One Price Increase Summary

With nearly all major lubricant manufacturers announcing adjustments, the first round of finished lubricant price increases in 2018 will make its mark in the history books.

The first announcement JobbersWorld reported on came when CAM2 announced on January 12th that it was pushing through a price increase effective February 5th. This was soon followed by Shell and within three days of the first announcement, most lubricant manufacturers also announced with ExxonMobil only seven days after Shell. A summary of the most recent price increase announcements are shown below and that’s followed by a summary of all finished lubricant price increases JW reported in the first round for 2018.

As of today, the list of companies JobbersWorld reported on that have announced lubricant price increases in 2018 is shown below: